Current Topics

New Zealand Tablet, 25 February 1915, Page 21

Current Topics

The New Punctuation A while ago it was phonetic spelling which absorbed the energies of the well-meaning faddists who have devoted themselves to the ‘reform 5 of literature now they are turning their attention to an amendment of our methods of punctuation. Their aim, they tell us, is ‘ to eliminate the unessential in language 5 ; and in a recent volume by Mr. A. J. Eddy, we are favored with an illustration of the application of the principle : ‘ New punctuation; ... a living style creates itself without the use of absurd commas and periods. To accentuate certain movements and indicate their directions, certain mathematical and unusual signs will bo used. Thus; ‘ Cannon to right of them 5^ Cannon to left of them Cannon behind them p Volley’d ***** and thunder’d *™ y vimui—mir The system might conceivably prove of service to impressionist war correspondents; but it would, we suspect, tax the resources of the most complete printing establishment to find a symbol adequate to illustrate the whiz from a ‘ Jack Johnson. 5 What the Priest Soldiers are Doing Samson, as Holy Scripture tells us, drew honey from the lion’s mouth, and the manufacturing chemist can distil a pain-soothing balm from the roots of the deadly aconite. In an analogous way Providence appears to be so ordering things in France that the ‘ evil-beginning hours 5 of the war may end in good, and may prove, so far as the Church is concerned, a blessing in disguise. The ground for this hope is found in the remarkable effect which has been produced by the conduct and bravery of the 20,000 priest-soldiers who form part of the great army of France. Catholics the world over are familiar with the story of the bitter and' relentless persecution to which their co-religionists in France have been subject for thirty years. During that long period Catholics have seen all the resources of an irreligious and lodge-ridden Government used against them. Even so late as May last a law was passed which imposes a fine or imprisonment on every citizen who persuades parents not to send their children to the lay schools. But the war gives promise of changing all that. It has already, we learn, acted as a shock which has banished many prejudices, animosities, and other evil elements. ‘ The ordeal and the glory of our country, writes Eugene Tavernier in the Constructive Quarterly , ‘ the bravery of the soldiers, the patriotic inspiration, which call forth the spirit of sacrifice and the spirit of fraternity, all this has brought about a profound and visible change in the common mind.’ * The conduct of the clergy, according to this wellinformed writer, has been one of the principal factors in hastening and making permanent this change. Their happy and beneficent influence had, indeed, been making itself felt even before the present crisis. ‘ For twentyfive years,’ says this writer, ‘ the ministers of religion have, like other citizens, been compelled to become soldiers. This obligation was established by the .freethinking sectarians in the hope that the sojourn in the barracks might weaken or destroy a great number of clerical vocations. Then, after having borne very courageously and worthily the two years in barracks, the greater number of the aspirants for the priesthood take tip again the way of the seminary. Afterwards they accept regularly, on appointed days, their part in the military exercises and manoeuvres to which they are called as reservists. Their presence in the regiments has > exercised a very happy influence on the crowd of

soldiers who have no idea of religious things.’ . But it is since the war broke out that the; Church is reaping the full fruition of the priest-soldiers, splendid manifestation of the spirit of discipline and sacrifice. The way in which the priests responded to the call for service is thus described : ‘At the , first signal the seminarists and priests, cures and religious, have rejoined the army to take their places in the combat. At the beginning of the war there were nearly 20,000 in the ranks. Among them were found, and still may be found, members of the congregations whom hateful and impious laws had driven from France. Many of the priests and members of the congregations arrived at the barracks in their cassocks. Many were obliged to wait, some for a short, some for a long time, for their uniforms. All, in their cassocks, took part in military duties and labors. All have displayed a frank, dignified and cordial disposition which has called forth respectful and eager sympathy for them. And not a single act has caused any voluntary offence on the part of these citizens, torn suddenly from the environment where they were exercising their special vocation. There has been manifested their desire simply to accept, without regret and without hesitation, a duty which ill accords with the office of a priest at the altar. Everyone has recognised something peculiarly praiseworthy in such an abnegation, patriotic, civic, Christian. * But it is on the field of battle itself that, from the popular point of view at least, the priest-soldiers have won their brightest laurels. ‘ Then, the field of battle has seen numbers of these 20,000 priest-soldiers, vicars, cures, or members of congregations, give an example of courage, brave under fire, fighting and dying like heroes. A long list of them, for their military exploits, have received the honor of being praised before the whole army. In the midst of soldiers and a soldier himself, the priest, whom the free-thinker pretends to treat as an inferior citizen, has suddenly proved a living manifestation of the spirit of discipline and sacrifice. Finally, another thing which seemed about to be forgotten has been undex-stood— faith and prayer, aside from their individual importance, have a patriotic and social role. Between two battles the soldiers, formerly so indifferent to the things of religion, went to church in a multitude. In different places, an hour before the battle, the regiments took part in the Mass, celebrated in the open air upon an improvised altar by a priest-soldier surrounded by other ecclesiastics whose military uniform was completed by a sacerdotal emblem ! Many other similar events have followed which, commented upon by the newspapers, have produced an extraordinary impression throughout the whole country. * * The one question which will be eagerly and earnestly asked is. Will these good results be lasting ? or will France, when her hour of difficulty is past, return to the husks and swine of profligacy and infidelity. On this point, Eugene Tavernier, at least, is more than sanguine. ‘ Without doubt, he says, ‘ that impression will endure. The violent shock of the war has set in motion new feelings which will assure the full maturity of the efforts generously made for thirty years by French Catholics. 5 To which the friends of erstwhile Catholic France can only fervently respond, So may it be ! Letters from the Front In view of the fact that the trained observers and competent historians —represented by the body of capable and accredited war correspondentshave, wisely or stupidly, been banished from even - the most distant approach to the firing line, the letters sent home by individual officers and men acquire a greatly enhanced interest and value. Their value does not lie primarily in the information which they afford as to the actual course of operations or as to the actual military situation at a particular time and place—though even in this direction they are of distinct service. What could be more vivid and illuminating, for example, than this

little picture of patrolling work at sea: ‘Of course there have been various alarms, when we have had to rush to our stations. But they are generally caused by some ham-handed marine firing a gun by mistake, or by some swivel-eyed look-out seeing .one of our own ships and thinking it the enemy, or mistaking a treacle-tin for the periscope of a submarine.’ Or what could take us nearer to the heart of things than this description, in the earlier stages of the campaign, of the Irish Guards at Compicgne: — ‘The cavalry came along in a huge mass with the intention of riding down the Irish Guards who were nearest to them. When the shock came it seemed terrific to us in the distance, for the Irishmen did not recoil in the least, but flung themselves right across the path of the German horsemen. We could hear the crack of the rifles, and see the horses impaled on the bayonets of the front ranks of the Guardsmen. Then the whole force of infantry and cavalry were mixed up in one confused heap, like so many pieces from a jigsaw puzzle.’ * But the chief value of these letters from the trenches lies in the vision which they give of the spirit in which our soldiers are carrying on the fight, and of the way in which they are facing the dangers, sufferings, and discomforts of the struggle. So far as the Irish soldiers are concerned, the letters published in the Home papers go to show that the high religion;; and patrioticspirit with which the names of these regiments have been associated from the beginning is still being splendidly maintained. God and Ireland seem ever to occupy the foremost place in their thoughts. We reproduce one or two specimen letters as we find them in the columns of our contemporary, the Irish Weekly. ‘ When Monday evening comes,’ writes Private Thomas Barrett, R.A.M.C., to the spiritual director of the Holy Family Confraternity at Youghal, ‘ I say my Rosary just about the same time you* are reciting it at the Confraternity meeting.’ The rest of Private Barrett’s letter illustrates Mow highly the Irish soldier values the spiritual privileges which may come his way. ‘ One Mass,’ he says, ‘ we had the great privilege of attending in a farmer’s hayloft, which the priest told us was of a venerable old age.’ This was on the scene of another Mass celebrated when the Knights Templars were doing battle for the elements of Christianity. Again, he says, ‘We had another Mass in a barn said, I am glad to say, by an Irish priest the Rev. John Evans.’ Conversely, the Irish Catholic soldier is naturally filled with detestation of the havoc wrought by the enemy amongst churches and other sacred buildings. ‘ This chapel-burning,’ writes a correspondent of an Irish priest (Father Kearney), ‘ is all done by the express orders of the German generals or their officers. Wherever you go, you see chapels, convents, schools burnt down. . . . Do the, folk in Ireland realise what the Army and Navy are doing for them V As to how the Irish soldier faces the last call of all, let the following illustration from a letter from Father P. B. Bradley suffice: ‘1 don’t think I told you of a brave Irish soldier I attended during the terrific battle around Ypres. His side was torn with shrapnel, and as he lay in a pool of blood and covered with blood he raised his hands upwards (after being attended to spiritually) and exclaimed, with Iris last breath, ‘My life for old Ireland.” Should Ins fate be mine, I hope to say with my last breath, like the gallant soldier: ‘‘My soul to God my life for dear old Ireland.” ’ Such examples cannot be without their effect; and the impression produced by the fine character of Father Pradlev himself upon those with whom he came into contact is indicated in a letter from the Rev. Richard Hall, Methodist chaplain of the Expeditionary Force, who has written as follows to the Methodist Times: —‘Father Bradley, the K.C. chaplain, and I were alloted the same tent. This was the commencement of a friendship that I am sure will be lifelorm. I never met a more '-■■“ntle and refined Christian character. His one thought was to serve others, and he cared nothing for his own discomfort as long as he was helping someone else. It was a grief to both of us when a little over a. month ago I stood, in the middle of the night, at a railway station to

wish him good-bye. He was ordered to join a field ambulance in the fighting line (a command that came to me shortly-after). His last words were: Hall, don’t forget to pray for me ; underneath and round about both of us are the Everlasting Arms.” ’ ’ The Pope’s Encyclical Me were very far .from having exhausted the features of interest in the Pope’s Encyclical in our editorial comments of a fortnight ago, and the document is one which will well bear reading and re-reading, i here are two other points, at least, in that important pronouncement to which we wish to direct further attention. Me referred briefly to the note of clearness and firmness which marks the utterance, but limitations of space prevented us from elaborating the point. The characteristic we have alluded to comes out strongly and strikingly in these crisp, clear-cut sentences: ‘ Therefore, whenever legitimate authority has once given a clear command, let no one transgress that command, because it docs not happen to commend itself to him; but let each one subject his own opinion to the authority or him who is his superior, and obey him as a matter of conscience. Again, let no private individual, whether in books or in the press, or in public speeches, take upon himself the position of an authoritative teacher in the Church. All know to whom the teaching authority of the Church has been given by God : he, then, possesses a perfect right to speak as he wishes and when he thinks it opportune. The duty of others is to hearken to him reverently when he speaks and to carry out what he says.’ This is significant on personal grounds, as indicating the strength and decision of character pertaining to the present Pontiff. -It reveals iii Benedict XV. the true Pastor, who will speak with dear voice to a world which has no other where to look for firm and sure guidance. It is significant, also, on general grounds, as - a re-affirmation of the great Christian principle of authority, which the Catholic Church has always maintained, and which the other religious bodies have so completely lost. ‘He that heareth you, heareth Me,’ said our Lord, ‘ and he that despise! h you, despiseth Me.’ It hath seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us,’ said the early Church at Jerusalem, in deciding the first controverted question amongst Christians. ‘ All know to whom the teaching authority of the Church lias been given by God,’ says Benedict XV., ‘ and he possesses a perfect right to speak as he wishes and when he thinks it opportune.’ In the Catholic Church, at least, it is the shepherd who guides the sheep, and not the sheep who lead the shepherd. * The warning which we have, quoted from the Encyclical is intended primarily for individuals —for the would-be intellectuals puffed up with the idea of their own importance, and for the headstrong and rebellious ignoramuses who have a rooted objection to the bit and the rein. But the principle applies also to Catholic associations and organisations, such as the Catholic Federation, Knights of Columbus, etc., and to all religious societies under the aegis of the Church. This is expressly indicated in the Encyclical so that the position may be made perfectly clear. ‘As men are generally stimulated, Venerable Brethren,’ writes the Holy Father, ‘ openly to profess their Catholic faith) and to harmonise their lives with its teaching, by brotherly exhortation and by the good example of their fellow men, we greatly rejoice as more and more Catholic associations are formed. Not only do We hope that they will increase, but it is Our wish that under Our patronage and encouragement they may ever flourish ; and they certainly will flourish, if steadfastly and faithfully they abide by the directions which this Apostolic See lias . given or will give. Let all the members of societies which further the interests of God and His Church ever remember the words of Divine Wisdom ; ‘‘An obedient man shall speak of victory” (Provi xxi. 8), for unless thev obey God by showing deference to the Head of the Church, vainly will they look for divine assistance, vainly, too, will they labor,’

Another point in the 'Encyclical which well deserves the practical attention of Catholics is the Holy Father’s direction as to the t name by which members of the Church should uniformly describe themselves. The direction is by no means uncalled for. Apart from its particular application to special - local conditions in Italy, there is a general and increasing laxness amongst English-speaking Catholics ,in regard to the use of their proper title name which certainly demands correction. In spite of articles and explanations innumerable in Catholic papers, there is a growing number of. members of the Church—and these not the least educ ated—who make a practice of describing themselves as ‘ Roman ’ Catholics. In legal documents and for legal purposes this is at present to some extent unavoidable; but outside of legal necessity Catholics should ever call their Church by her unique and longconsecrated title, the Catholic Church, and should a'void bestowing upon her a designation (R.C. or Roman Catholic) which is not ' our creation and which is nowhere recognised in her official formulae. This is the point emphasised and insisted upon in the Encyclical. < It is, moreover, Our will,’ writes the Holy Father, * that Catholics should abstain from certain appellations which, have recently been brought into use. . - . Such is the nature of Catholicism that it does not admit of more or less, but must be held as a whole or as a whole rejected; “This is the Catholic faith, which unless a man believe faithfully and firmly, he cannot be saved” (Athanas. Creed). There is no need of adding any qualifying terms to the profession of Catholicism : it is quite enough for each one to proclaim “Christian is my name and Catholic my surname,” only let him endeavor to be in reality what he calls himself.’ As we have said, Catholic papers have been trying to drive this lesson home upon Catholics for many a year, and now that the Supreme Pastor has spoken it may be hoped that at last they will listen.